LeBron James publicly challenged the Cleveland Cavaliers front office to make a move on Monday. After their fifth loss in seven games, a 124-122 defeat at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans with Anthony Davis watching from the sideline, James declared -- with profanity! -- that the Cavaliers are "not better than last year, from a personnel standpoint," adding that they are "a top-heavy team." This wasn't the first time James has told reporters he wants Cleveland to add a backup point guard, but it was the most aggressive and frustrated he has sounded all season.
In that context comes a report from Forbes' Mitch Lawrence indicating that the Cavaliers "have been looking to add" Deron Williams, Rajon Rondo or Jameer Nelson. James has said that he'd like a veteran playmaker backing up Kyrie Irving, and the three of them are certainly veteran playmakers.
Williams, Nelson and Rondo are all on CBS Sports' Matt Moore's list of options for Cleveland. As he said, Williams would be a nice pickup if the Dallas Mavericks buy him out. That team isn't going anywhere, and his contract expires at the end of this season. I like him better than the other two options because his size allows him to defend bigger players and the Cavs' mediocre defense has been a problem all year.
Nelson, like Williams, isn't the pick-and-roll threat that he used to be. He could still run Cleveland's offense, though, and if he shoots like he did at the beginning of the season, he could help space the floor. He'd be a fine addition, but teams would target him defensively in the playoffs.
The Rondo idea seems crazy to me. The only argument I can imagine is that James wants someone to take pressure off of him and Irving, and Rondo is best equipped to do that. He likes to have the ball in his hands, probe the defense and rack up assists. Traditionally, though, this is not the sort of guy you'd want playing next to James -- defenses have zero respect for his jump shot, and he's been a poor defender for years now.
